Featured below are a number of reflections from assistants living in L'Arche communities across the UK. For more information about becoming an assistant yourself, please follow this link.
Monika joined L'Arche Edinburgh in June, during the first Scottish lockdown. Here, she journals her first few months as a new assistant in community. Read more
Mark and Ben from L'Arche Kent discuss what brought them both to L'Arche, and how lockdown has been for them. Read more
Travelling across continents to Inverness to live and work in L'Arche is a brave decision for anyone. Here, two assistants discuss taking that big leap, and the boundless rewards of their experience. Read more
When Alban arrived at L'Arche in 2014, he wasn't immediately sold. That didn't last long. Here he discusses how his experience pulled him out of a spiritual rut and prepared him for many more adventures. Read more
Leaving home to live in community with people with and without learning disabilities is a scary move for anyone. Add a global pandemic to the equation, and it’s surely terrifying. Here, Ellie and Dominic tell us about a first year they could never have anticipated. Read more
Max and Stacey's friendship has spanned across two decades, and Covid-19 was never going to stand in between them. Stacey, from L'Arche Liverpool, discusses here the unrelenting loyalty that has endured and adapted to the global pandemic. Read more
Across the world Covid-19 is changing the ways we are having to do so many things. Nem, a member of L'Arche Manchester, reflects on what life during Covid-19 is teaching her and how her Community is showing up. Read more
'You can’t make things perfect here. Instead you learn to use the imperfect things as gifts.’ Read more
When she was 21, Louise left her job and lived for a year as part of the L’Arche community in Ipswich. Here she found something remarkable in a community ‘where people can love well, and disagree well, and live together well’. Read more
Matthew spent his final year of college living with people with learning disabilities. It was the meaningful, mutual relationships that he developed with his roommates that led him to discover L’Arche. Read more
Reflections on living at L'Arche Kent, by Marilyn Hull Read more
Emilia came to L’Arche Ipswich from Germany on her gap year. Before leaving the Community to study teaching, Emilia reflects on her growth as part of the Community. Read more
'L’Arche is different from anywhere else. We are so connected with each other.' Read more
'It wasn’t until I lived here that I was fully able to understand what people with learning disabilities have to offer. They make the people around them grow.' Read more
'I think L'Arche offers the world love. It shows the world how to be respectful towards people with learning disabilities and how to value every person'. Read more
Christelle is a volunteer in the L’Arche Ipswich community. In this piece she reflects on how celebrating her birthday in the community brought her to a deeper understanding of L’Arche. Read more
'L’Arche houses are brilliantly eclectic and that is a large part of what makes working in them so much fun.' Read more
'Living in L’Arche is like holding a mirror up to yourself and seeing the very best and sometimes the very worst of yourself reflected back.' Read more
‘I think L’Arche is one of those places where you can change the world, and changing the world starts with changing yourself.’ Read more
Amy is an assistant at the L'Arche Community in Manchester. Here her relationship with Laura, a core member in the community, has taught her about joy and wholeheartedness. Read more